Posts Tagged ‘Lookout’

Lookout mobile security has identified 1000 malicious applications in less than six months.
Previously the most of the malicious apps where located on third-party app stores, and alternatives to the official Android Market.Lookout mentions that the likelihood of an Android user encountering malware increases from 1 to 4 percent yearliy and the U.S. is placed in the middle of mobile malware, compared to other countries.
Another malware action is when Android users are convinced to click on untrusted links that lead to malware and phishing sites.
The global yearly likelihood of an Android user clicking on an unsafe link is much higher and reaches 36 percent (6 percent higher than July 2011) and the likelihood in the U.S. is 40 percent.
Another issue that Lookout detected is “mobile pickpocketing”, which is applications and malware that charges the phone owner without his knowledge.
There are also the RuFraud applications that pretend to be free wallpapers finder and popular games, but hide terms that allow the service to charge the phone owner, without his knowledge.Lookout believes that many of these incidents will be reported, and also botnets, malware that exploits weaknesses in mobile operating systems, browser-based attacks , malware hiding in mobile advertisements and tools that allow automatic repackaging of legitimate applications to add malware.Lookout finally suggests to avoid using third-party application stores, avoid clicking on in-app advertisements, and beware when clicking on apps that ask you to click “OK”. Users should first check any reviews before downloading any application, and mainly those related with games, ulitities and porn, which are most likely to contain malware.

The malware sends personal data of a user’s phone to a remote server and is also capable of receiving commands from, controlled by hackers, remote servers, in order to control the phone. Mobile security firm Lookout describes the malware as the most sophisticated to appear on Android devices wich has been uploaded onto third-party Chinese Android app markets, poses as gaming applications(Monkey Jump 2, Sex Positions, President vs. Aliens, City Defense, Baseball Superstars 2010).

When Geinimi is launched, collects significant information like location coordinates, unique identifiers for the device (IMEI) and SIM card (IMSI) and attempts to connect to a remote server to transmit the collected device information.

The security firm already updated both free and paid versions of its software to protect against Geinimi.